Blue Chips Rally,
Avoiding Mark
Of Bear Market

By

Peter Edmonston WSJ.com

Updated March 22, 2001 6:18 p.m. ET

Blue-chip stocks bounced back from steep losses earlier Thursday, closing above the mark that would have signaled a bear market for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Nasdaq Composite Index also rode a last-minute rally to end higher.

The Dow industrials finished down 97.52 points, or 1%, at 9389.48. That represents a 19.9% drop from the indicator's record high last year, putting it just shy of a bear market, traditionally defined...